Tottenham close to signing 'the better Goetze'

Tottenham Hotspur are apparently close to securing a deal for the very talented Bernard of Brazillian side Atletico Mineiro.

Rumours of the deal were leaked in a recent tweet, believed to be a statement from club President Alexandre Kalil saying: "It's true that Dortmund have made a bid for Bernard but an English team [Tottenham] is closer to signing him".

Although it isn't 100% certain the English club mentioned is actually that of Tottenham Hotspur, the signing of Bernard would be a major coup for Daniel Levy and the club. The 20 year old attacking midfielder has drawn comparisons to the late Borrusia Dortmund and now Bayern Munich playmaker Mario Goetze. Borrusia Dortmund have already earmarked Bernard as the most suitable replacement for Goetze, having partnered well with former World Player of the year - Ronaldinho at club level.

From what I have seen of him already, Bernard is a pitbull-terrier like player with the same fighting mentality as the Gennaro Gattusso or Carlos Tevez - combined then with the attacking flair and dominance of the call as perhaps David Silva or Juan Mata.

All in all, I hope that there is more to this story than just pure speculation as the club still has a very big hole to fill from the departure of Luka Modric to Real Madrid. Bernard could well be the technically gifted player that we are looking for to make things happen out of nowhere again. The Brazillian league has unearthed some diamonds in recent years with Neymar, Leandro Damiao and Oscar, Sandro, Moura and David Luiz some of the more noticeable stars.

Do you think Bernard is good enough to replace the hole left by Luka Modric? Thoughts.